Roller-belt conveyor for accumulating and moving articles laterally across the conveyor

ABSTRACT

A conveyor using a roller belt with rollers arranged to rotate on oblique axes to urge articles toward a side guide. The conveyor includes an oblique-roller belt supported on a carryway for running in a direction of belt travel. Rollers extend above an outer conveying surface of the belt without contact with the carryway. Each roller rotates on an axis oblique to the direction of belt travel and intersects the side guide downstream of the roller&#39;s position. A retractable stop is movable to and from a blocking position along the carryway. In the blocking position, the stop blocks the conveyed articles from advancing in the direction of belt travel. The rollers underlying the blocked articles rotate as the belt runs by contact with the articles. The rotating rollers provide a component of force to the blocked articles directed toward the side guide to push the articles against the side guide or other articles as they accumulate under low pressure upstream of the stop. The conveyor may be used to register articles single file against the side guide or to group the articles for palletizing. For palletizing applications, an infeed conveyor feeds articles onto the belt at the side opposite the side guide.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to power-driven conveyors and, more particularly,to a conveyor using a conveyor belt with obliquely oriented rollers toaccumulate and move articles laterally across the conveyor.

Many material-handling applications require that conveyed articles beaccumulated and aligned single file or arranged in groups for downstreamprocessing or inspection. One way to arrange articles single fileagainst a side of the conveyor is with a conveyor belt having rollerswith salient portions that extend beyond top and bottom surfaces of thebelt. The rollers roll on supporting bearing surfaces beneath the bottomsurface of the belt as it advances in a direction of belt travel. Therollers are arranged to rotate on axles oblique to the direction of belttravel. The rotation of the rollers on their oblique axles provides asidewise component of force directing conveyed articles atop the rollerstoward a side guide flanking the belt. But, because contact between therollers and the bearing surface is not frictionless, roller wearaccelerates and belt tension increases. Furthermore, because therotation of the oblique rollers pushes the articles forward as well,accumulated articles would experience high back line pressure.Consequently, such a conveyor has shortcomings in applications requiringaccumulation of articles in a single file or side by side.

SUMMARY

These shortcomings are overcome by a conveyor embodying features of theinvention, in which a conveyor comprises a conveyor belt supported on acarryway flanked by a side guide. The carryway extends from an upstreamend to a downstream end in a direction of belt travel. The conveyor beltincludes rollers extending above an outer conveying surface of the beltat individual roller positions. The rollers, which do not contact thecarryway, support conveyed articles. Each roller is arranged to rotateon an axis oblique to the direction of belt travel. Each axis intersectsthe side of the carryway at the side guide at a position downstream ofthe roller position. A retractable stop is movable to and from ablocking position along the carryway. In the blocking position, the stopblocks the advance of conveyed articles in the direction of belt traveland causes the rollers underlying the blocked articles to rotate as thebelt runs. The oblique rollers provide a component of force to theblocked articles directed toward the side guide.

Another version of a conveyor comprises a modular conveyor belt runningalong a carryway. The carryway extends from an upstream end to adownstream end in the direction of belt travel. A side guide extendsalong a first side of the carryway. Support surfaces extending in thedirection of belt travel are spaced apart laterally on the carrywayacross spaces. The modular belt is constructed of a series of rows ofbelt modules connected together at hinges between successive rows intoan endless belt loop. Cavities in the belt open onto outer and innersurfaces of the belt loop. Salient portions of rollers disposed in thecavities extend past the outer and inner surfaces of the belt loop. Eachroller is arranged to rotate on an axis oblique to the direction of belttravel. The axis intersects the first side of the carryway downstream ofthe roller's cavity. The carryway underlies a belt loop portion alongwhich articles are conveyed atop the salient portions of the rollersextending past the outer surface of the belt. The carryway portion ofthe belt loop is supported on the support surfaces with the salientportions of the rollers extending past the inner surface of the beltloop positioned in the spaces between support surfaces. A stop ismovable between a first position and a second position. In the firstposition, the stop blocks the advance of conveyed articles along thecarryway in the direction of belt travel. In the second position, thestop allows articles to advance in the direction of belt travel. In thefirst, blocking position, the stop causes the rollers in contact withthe blocked articles to rotate as the rollers advance with the belt. Therollers rotating beneath the blocked articles provide a component offorce directed to push the blocked articles toward the side guide.

In another aspect of the invention, a conveyor comprises an upstreamconveyor section at a first end of the conveyor and a downstreamconveyor section at a second end of the conveyor receiving conveyedarticles from the upstream conveyor section. At least one conveyor beltadvances in a direction of belt travel from the first end to the secondend along the upstream and downstream conveyor sections. The belt hasrollers arranged to rotate on axes oblique to the direction of belttravel. Salient portions of the rollers extend past outer and innersurfaces of the conveyor belt. Opposite first and second side guidesflank the upstream and downstream conveyor sections. The upstreamconveyor section includes roller bearing surfaces that underlie theconveyor belt. The roller bearing surfaces contact the salient portionsof the rollers in rolling contact to rotate the rollers as the conveyorbelt advances. In this way, articles supported atop the salient portionsof the rollers are pushed toward the second side guide. A movable stopis positionable across the downstream conveyor section to block conveyedarticles from passing the stop as the belt advances along the downstreamconveyor section. The downstream conveyor section includes abelt-supporting surface underlying the conveyor belt out of contact withthe salient portions of the rollers extending past the inner surface ofthe conveyor belt. This lack of contact allows the rollers in thedownstream conveyor section in contact with a blocked article to rotateopposite to the rotation of the rollers in the upstream conveyor sectionto push the blocked articles in the downstream conveyor section towardthe first side guide with reduced back line pressure.

Another version of a conveyor has opposite first and second sides.Rollers are embedded in at least one conveyor belt advancing in adirection of belt travel through an upstream conveyor section and adownstream conveyor section. The rollers are arranged to rotate ongenerally parallel axes oblique to the direction of belt travel. Bearingsurfaces underlie the rollers in the upstream conveyor section inrolling contact to rotate the rollers in a first direction as theconveyor belt advances along the upstream portion. The rotation of therollers pushes conveyed articles toward the second side of the conveyor.A belt-supporting surface supports the belt in the downstream conveyorsection without contacting the rollers. A stop extends laterally acrossthe downstream conveyor section between the first and second sides ofthe conveyor to block conveyed articles from advancing with the beltpast the stop. The rollers in the downstream conveyor section rotate ina second direction opposite to the first direction by contact withblocked articles. This opposite rotation pushes the blocked articlestoward the first side of the conveyor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These features and aspects, as well as advantages, of the invention arebetter understood by referring to the following description, appendedclaims, and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a conveyor embodying features of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of a portion of the conveyor of FIG. 1 takenalong lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A-3E are top views of the conveyor of FIG. 1 illustrating itsoperation;

FIGS. 4A-4F are top views of the conveyor of FIG. 1 illustrating itsoperation when configured as a palletizer;

FIGS. 5A-5B are side elevation schematic views of the conveyor of FIG. 1operating as a palletizer as in FIGS. 4A-4F;

FIG. 6 is a cross section of the conveyor of FIG. 4A taken along lines6-6 of FIG. 4A; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of another version of a portion of aconveyor as in FIG. 1 operating as a palletizer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a conveyor 10 embodying features of the invention includinga conveyor belt 12, such as a modular roller-top conveyor belt. Theconveyor belt shown is a modular conveyor belt made up of belt modules14 arranged in a series of rows 16. The rows are connected together byhinge pins 17 at hinge joints 18 that allow the belt to articulate aboutdrive and idler sprockets 20 at each end of the conveyor. The belt formsan endless loop trained around a drive shaft 22 and an idler shaft 24.The shafts are supported at their ends in bearing blocks 26 mounted on aconveyor frame (not shown for simplicity). A motor 28 is coupled to thedrive shaft 22 to drive the belt. As the motor's output shaft 30 rotatesas shown by arrow 32, the belt advances in a direction of belt travel34.

A portion of the belt loop, in particular the upper, article-conveyingportion 36 in FIG. 1, is supported on a carryway 38 (FIG. 2). The beltreturns from the drive sprockets via a returnway 40 beneath thecarryway. Shoes, drums, or rollers may be used in the returnway toreduce sag in the belt.

The belt includes a plurality of rollers 42, preferably arranged inlongitudinal lanes parallel to the direction of belt travel. The rollersare arranged to rotate on axes 44 oblique to the direction of belttravel. For example, the axes may be 30°, 45°, or 60° from the directionof belt travel. In the examples shown, the rollers are mounted incavities 46 that open onto an outer, article-conveying surface 48 and anopposite inner surface 49 of the belt loop. One suitable belt is theSeries 400 Angled Roller™ belt manufactured and sold by Intralox, L.L.C.of Harahan, La., USA. The Intralox belt is made of a thermoplasticpolymer such as polypropylene, polyethylene, acetal, or compositematerials in an injection-molding process. The rollers 42, as shown inFIG. 2, are generally cylindrical in shape and mounted in the cavitieson axles 50. Bores 52 through the rollers receive the axles. The rollersare free to rotate on the axles, which define axes of rotation for therollers. The ends of the axles are embedded in the body of the beltmodule 14.

As shown in FIG. 1, a side guide 54, mounted on supports 55, bounds oneside 56 of the belt along the carryway 38. The carryway extends in thedirection of belt travel 34 from an upstream end 58, at which articlesare fed onto the conveyor, to a downstream end 59, from which articlesare transferred off the conveyor. A stop 60 at the downstream end of theconveyor is movable from a first position blocking conveyed articles, asshown in FIG. 1, to a second unblocking position allowing arrangedarticles to pass. An elevator 62 is shown in this example for raisingand lowering opposite ends of a stop barrier, as indicated bydouble-headed arrow 64. In the raised, unblocking position, the stopbarrier is elevated high enough above the outer belt surface along thecarryway to avoid articles passing below. The stop could be realized inother ways. One example is a gate that swings from a blocking positionacross the carryway to an unblocking position alongside the carryway.

As shown in FIG. 2, the belt is supported in the carryway on supportsurfaces, such as metal rails or plastic wearstrips 66, mounted on aconveyor pan 68 or other structure. The wearstrips, which are preferablymade of a wear-resistant, low-friction material, such as UHMW(ultra-high molecular weight) plastic, are laid out along the carrywaylongitudinally in the direction of belt travel and spaced laterallyacross spaces 70 between consecutive wearstrips. (Spaces may also existbetween the lateral outermost wearstrips and the sides of the belt.) Theinner surface 49 of the belt rides on bearing surfaces 72 on thewearstrips. Salient portions 74 of the rollers extend from the beltcavities past the outer and inner surfaces of the belt. Articles areconveyed along the carryway atop the salient portions of the rollersextending past the outer, conveying surface. The salient portions of therollers extending past the inner surface of the belt are positioned inthe spaces 70 between adjacent wearstrips. In this way, the rollers donot contact any conveyor structure under the belt along the carryway andare free to rotate or remain stationary.

The operation of the conveyor is illustrated step by step in FIGS. 3A-3Ewith the stop 60 in the blocking position. The carryway extends in thedirection of belt travel 34 from the upstream end 58 to the downstreamend 59. The rollers 42 rotate on oblique axes 44, each of whichintersects the side guide 54 at a point 76 downstream of the roller'sposition 78. In FIG. 3A, articles A, B, and C are being conveyed alongthe carryway in the direction of belt travel atop the rollers. Therollers, which do not contact the carryway or its wearstrips, are notrotating significantly, and the articles travel with the belt. In FIG.3B, lead article A meets the stop 60 blocking its further passage alongthe carryway. Trailing articles B and C continue to advance with therunning belt toward article A. With article A blocked, the rollersbeneath it rotate as they encounter the article's bottom surface.Because article A is prevented from advancing in the direction of belttravel, it causes the rollers beneath it to rotate in the directionindicated by arrow 80. The direction 80 is perpendicular to the rolleraxis and has a first component opposite the direction of belt travel anda second component directed toward the side guide. The componentopposite the direction of belt travel generally matches the speed of thebelt and allows articles to accumulate with low backline pressureagainst each other and the stop. The component directed toward the sidepushes article A against the side guide 54, as shown in FIG. 3C. Asarticle B catches up to blocked article A and is, in turn, blocked byit, the rollers start to rotate under article B as they pass beneath it.The rotation of the rollers under article B urges it toward the sideguide, too, as article C is still being conveyed along. Eventually, asshown in FIG. 3D, article C bumps into leading article B. Prevented fromadvancing in the direction of belt travel, article C causes the rollersto rotate as they pass below, which applies a component of force towardthe side guide. As shown in FIG. 3E, articles A, B, and C are registeredagainst the side guide and accumulated under low pressure against thestop. Once the stop is moved to its unblocking position, the articleswill advance in the direction of belt travel along the side of theconveyor.

The accumulation and registration capabilities of the conveyor make itespecially suitable for grouping articles before palletizing. As shownin FIG. 4A, the accumulation and registration conveyor 10 receives aconveyed article D from an upstream conveyor belt 82 across a gap 84,which may be partly filled by a transfer plate. The upstream conveyorbelt could be, as shown in FIG. 4A, identical in construction to thebelt 14 in the downstream conveyor. But the upstream belt is operateddifferently from the downstream belt. As shown in FIG. 6, the rollers 42in the upstream belt 82 extend past its inner surface 49 and its outersurface 48 and ride on supporting bearing surfaces 86, such as UHMWwearstrips, in rolling contact. As the belt advances, the rollers rotateon the bearing surfaces and propel articles toward the left side againsta left side guide 88, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4A. Article Dcontinues along the left side of the downstream conveyor along theextended side guide. When article D hits the stop 60, its forwardprogress is stopped, which causes the free rollers under it to rotateopposite to the direction of rotation of the rollers in the upstreamconveyors and push article D laterally along the stop in the directionof the arrow in FIG. 4B toward the right side guide. Eventually articleD registers against the right side rail and the stop, as shown in FIG.4C. Subsequent articles, such as article E in FIG. 4D, are moved towardthe left side guide by the upstream conveyor and, once blocked, aremoved toward the right on the downstream conveyor. Article E follows thesame general path as article D, but comes to a full stop beside articleD. FIG. 4E shows the formation of a packed group of articles in tworows. Because the final article in the leading row, article F, does notleave enough room between itself and the left side guide, the followingarticle, article G, is pushed by the rollers across the belt to theright side guide along the rear of the leading row of articles. Theprocess continues until a group 89 of articles of a predetermined sizeand shape is formed. Then the stop is retracted from its blockingposition to an unblocking position, and the group is advanced by thedownstream conveyor, as shown in FIG. 4F onto a palletizer table 90, forexample. As also shown in FIG. 4F, each row could be arranged witharticles in different orientations by an upstream process that presentsthe articles in the correct orientation to the conveyor.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate the formation of a pallet of articles on thepalletizer table 90. As soon as the group of products for the bottomlayer of the pallet to be formed is transferred completely from theconveyor 10 to the table, the table is lowered, as indicated by arrow 92in FIG. 5B, to level at which the tops of the article in the bottomlayer 89 are generally level with the outer surface of the conveyorbelt. Then a second layer 89′ is formed and transferred onto the top ofthe first layer, and the table is lowered again for a third layer, andso on, until a pallet of predetermined size is formed. After the palletis removed, the table is elevated to its original position to receivethe next bottom layer, as indicated by two-headed arrow 93 in FIG. 5A.

The palletizing conveyor shown in the example of FIGS. 4A-4F uses anupstream conveyor belt 82 and a separately driven downstream conveyorbelt 12. But, as shown in FIG. 7, the two-belt system can be replaced bya single oblique-roller belt 94 with retractable roller bearing surfaces96. The bearing surfaces may be vertically raised and lowered into andout of contact with the rollers as indicated by arrows 98. Individuallyactuated roller bearing surface selectively positioned along thecarryway under the belt can program the belt to have differentcharacteristics along its length. For example, with the bearing surfacesin a raised position engaging the rollers, conveyed articles are urgedtoward one side of the belt in that section. With the bearing surfacesin a lowered, non-engaging position and a stop 60 in place at the end ofthat section, blocked articles can be pushed toward the other side ofthe belt. To complement the programmability of the belt along itslength, the stop may translate along the belt as indicated by arrow 99to accumulate articles at various positions along the length of thecarryway.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference topreferred versions, other versions are possible. For example, the beltshown has rollers that extend from cavities through the belt's thicknesspast the outer and inner belt surfaces. But it would be possible to usea belt in which the rollers do not extend past the inner surface of thebelt. With such a belt, different carryway bearing configurations couldbe used. Instead of linear wearstrips, chevron wearstrips or acontinuous carryway pan would be possible. Another oblique-roller beltthat could be used with almost any carryway configuration would be onein which the rollers are mounted completely above the outer beltsurface. Alternatively, the rollers could pop up out of the beltcavities to engage conveyed articles along the carryway. In all theseversions, the rollers could, instead of rotating about fixed axles,include integral stubs that define axes of rotation. The ends of thestubs could be rotatably received in belt recesses that would allow therollers to rotate. A yet another example, the roller bearing surfacesunderlying rollers could be static surfaces, such as on wearstrips orwearsheets, or rotatable surfaces, such as provided by rollers rotatableon axes in the direction of belt travel. So, as these few examplessuggest, the scope of the claims is not meant to be limited to theversions described in detail.

1. A conveyor for translating conveyed articles toward a side guide, theconveyor comprising: a carryway extending from an upstream end to adownstream end in a direction of belt travel and having a side guidealong a first side; a conveyor belt supported on the carryway forrunning in the direction of belt travel, the conveyor belt including: anouter conveying surface; a plurality of rollers extending above theouter conveying surface at individual roller positions without contactwith the carryway to support conveyed articles, each roller arranged torotate on an axis oblique to the direction of belt travel andintersecting the first side of the carryway downstream of the roller'sposition; a retractable stop movable to and from a blocking positionalong the carryway blocking the advance of conveyed articles in thedirection of belt travel and causing the rollers underlying the blockedarticles to rotate as the belt runs and thereby provide a component offorce to the blocked articles directed toward the side guide at thefirst side of the carryway.
 2. A conveyor as in claim 1 wherein theretractable stop is further movable along the carryway in the directionof belt travel.
 3. A conveyor as in claim 1 further comprising a secondside guide at a second side of the conveyor opposite the first side andan infeed conveyor feeding articles onto the conveyor belt at theupstream end of the carryway along the second side guide.
 4. A conveyorcomprising: a carryway extending from an upstream end to a downstreamend in a direction of belt travel and having a first side guide along afirst side and a plurality of support surfaces extending in thedirection of belt travel and spaced apart laterally across spaces; amodular conveyor belt including a series of rows of belt modulesconnected together at hinges between successive rows into an endlessbelt loop, the conveyor belt further having an outer surface and aninner surface and forming cavities opening onto the outer surface andthe inner surface, the conveyor belt further including: a plurality ofrollers disposed in the cavities with salient portions of the rollersextending past the outer and inner surfaces of the belt loop, eachroller arranged to rotate on an axis oblique to the direction of belttravel and intersecting the first side of the carryway downstream of theroller's cavity; wherein a portion of the conveyor belt loop, alongwhich articles are conveyed atop the salient portions of the rollersextending past the outer surface, is underlain by the carryway andsupported on the support surfaces with the salient portions of therollers extending past the inner surface of the belt loop positioned inthe spaces between the support surfaces; a stop movable between a firstposition blocking the advance of conveyed articles along the carryway inthe direction of belt travel and a second position allowing articles toadvance with the belt in the direction of belt travel; wherein the stopin the first position causes the rollers in contact with the blockedarticles to rotate as the rollers advance with the belt and therebyprovide a component of force to the blocked articles directed to pushthe blocked articles toward the first side guide.
 5. A conveyor as inclaim 4 wherein the stop is further movable along the carryway in thedirection of belt travel.
 6. A conveyor as in claim 4 further comprisinga second side guide at a second side of the conveyor opposite the firstside and an infeed conveyor feeding articles onto the conveyor belt atthe upstream end of the carryway along the second side guide.
 7. Aconveyor comprising: an upstream conveyor section extending from a firstend of the conveyor toward a second end of the conveyor; and adownstream conveyor section receiving conveyed articles from theupstream conveyor section and extending to the second end of theconveyor; at least one conveyor belt advancing in a direction of belttravel from the first end to the second end along the upstream anddownstream conveyor sections and having rollers arranged to rotate onaxes oblique to the direction of belt travel with salient portions ofthe rollers extending past outer and inner surfaces of the conveyorbelt; opposite first and second side guides flanking at least portionsof the upstream and downstream conveyor sections; wherein the upstreamconveyor section includes roller bearing surfaces underlying theconveyor belt and contacting the salient portions of the rollersextending past the inner surface of the conveyor belt in rolling contactto rotate the rollers as the conveyor belt advances to push articlessupported atop the salient portions of the rollers toward the secondside guide; a movable stop positionable across the downstream conveyorsection to block conveyed articles from passing the stop as the beltadvances along the downstream conveyor section; wherein the downstreamconveyor section includes a belt-supporting surface underlying theconveyor belt out of contact with the salient portions of the rollersextending past the inner surface of the conveyor belt to allow therollers in the downstream conveyor section in contact with a blockedarticle to rotate opposite to the rotation of the rollers in theupstream conveyor section to push the blocked articles in the downstreamconveyor section toward the first side guide with reduced back linepressure.
 8. A conveyor as in claim 7 wherein the movable stop ismovable along the carryway in the direction of belt travel.
 9. Aconveyor as in claim 7 wherein the at least one conveyor belt comprisesa first belt in the upstream conveyor section and a second belt in thedownstream conveyor section.
 10. A conveyor as in claim 7 wherein the atleast one conveyor belt comprises a single belt advancing through boththe upstream and downstream conveyor sections.
 11. A conveyor as inclaim 7 wherein the roller bearing surfaces are movable from a firstposition contacting the rollers to a second position out of contact withthe rollers.
 12. A conveyor as in claim 7 further comprising rollerbearing surfaces in the downstream conveyor section movable into and outof contact with rollers in the downstream conveyor section.
 13. Aconveyor having opposite first and second sides comprising: rollersembedded in at least one conveyor belt advancing in a direction of belttravel through an upstream conveyor section and a downstream conveyorsection, the rollers arranged to rotate on generally parallel axesoblique to the direction of belt travel; bearing surfaces underlying therollers in the upstream conveyor section in rolling contact to rotatethe rollers in a first direction as the conveyor belt advances along theupstream portion to push conveyed articles toward the second side of theconveyor; a belt-supporting surface supporting the belt in thedownstream conveyor section without contacting the rollers; a stopextending laterally across the downstream conveyor section between thefirst and second sides of the conveyor to block conveyed articles fromadvancing with the belt past the stop; wherein the rollers in thedownstream conveyor section rotate in a second direction opposite to thefirst direction by contact with blocked articles to push the blockedarticles toward the first side of the conveyor.
 14. A conveyor as inclaim 13 wherein the stop is movable along a carryway in the directionof belt travel.
 15. A conveyor as in claim 13 wherein the at least oneconveyor belt comprises a first belt in the upstream conveyor sectionand a second belt in the downstream conveyor section.
 16. A conveyor asin claim 13 wherein the at least one conveyor belt comprises a singlebelt advancing through both the upstream and downstream conveyorsections.
 17. A conveyor as in claim 13 wherein the bearing surfaces aremovable from a first position contacting the rollers to a secondposition out of contact with the rollers.
 18. A conveyor as in claim 13further comprising bearing surfaces in the downstream conveyor sectionmovable into and out of contact with rollers in the downstream conveyorsection.
 19. A conveyor for translating conveyed articles laterally, theconveyor comprising: a carryway extending from an upstream end to adownstream end in a direction of belt travel and laterally from a firstside to a second side; a conveyor belt supported on the carryway forrunning in the direction of belt travel, the conveyor belt including: anouter conveying surface; a plurality of rollers extending above theouter conveying surface at individual roller positions without contactwith the carryway to support conveyed articles, each roller arranged torotate on an axis oblique to the direction of belt travel andintersecting the first side of the carryway downstream of the roller'sposition; a retractable stop movable to and from a blocking positionalong the carryway blocking the advance of conveyed articles in thedirection of belt travel and causing the rollers underlying the blockedarticles to rotate as the belt runs and thereby provide a component offorce to the blocked articles directed toward the first side of thecarryway.
 20. A conveyor as in claim 19 further comprising a first sideguide at the first side of the conveyor, a second side guide at thesecond side of the conveyor, and an infeed conveyor feeding articlesonto the conveyor belt at the upstream end of the carryway along thesecond side guide.